Mohamed Kamel was found guilty of trying to kill the theater director Alain Francon
in March 2021 in Montpellier. The Hérault Assize Court sentenced him on Wednesday to 25 years of criminal imprisonment with a two-thirds security sentence. He will also have to take care of himself for a period of five years.
The president of the court, Véronique Maugendre, endeavored to justify the decision which had just been rendered. She explained in particular that this “significant punishment” takes into account the seriousness of the acts committed “for no other reason than nervousness and anger”. She also recalled that Mohamed Kamel was in a state of recidivism, following a conviction dating from 2015. In the dock, the 33-year-old man then began to insult the president who had him expelled.
Rescued by passers-by
On March 17, 2021, at the end of the morning, Mohamed Kamel gave a big blow to the throat of Alain Françon who was walking quietly in the historic center of Montpellier. The wound goes from the left ear to the base of the blow, and while he is literally bleeding out, Alain Françon is rescued by passers-by who have saved his life.
It’s a assault without apparent motive. If only shortly before, Mohamed Kamel had gone to the prefecture to collect his residence permit but was turned away at the entrance because he did not have an appointment. It pissed him off. Without ever explaining his gesture, Mohamed Kamel merely repeated that he had never wanted to kill this 78-year-old stranger, but only to hurt him.
A glimmer of hope ?
In his indictment, Damien Kincher, the Advocate General, had asked for 30 years in prison, a “long sentence”for a man qualified as “dangerous” and declared by the psychiatric expert.
It is precisely in this personality trouble that the defense lawyer went to find the meaning of this attack. Me Hayet Djefaflia pleaded for clemency, explaining that the necessarily long incarceration will allow his client “to repair and build”.
Reaction of Me Hayet Djefaflia, the defense lawyer. “25 years of criminal imprisonment is always painful for a man who has always said that he did not want to kill the victim. What poses a difficulty in this file, it must be recognized in all transparency, it is the chronology : dismissed from the prefecture, angry at not being able to have his appointment and then what we know happened, in the circumstances we know. The blow of the cutter, he recognizes it but the consequences of his act, he does not manage to realize it at all. I still have a small glimmer of hope, if he has the care he needs.
Reaction of Me Luc Abratkiewicz, Alain Françon’s lawyer. “It’s a sentence that corresponds to the seriousness of the facts and the dangerousness of Mr Kamel. It’s a balanced decision unfortunately, during all the debates, Mohamed Kamel was absent. It’s a shame but that’s the way it is” .
The man who tried to kill the director Alain Françon sentenced to 25 years in prison